Person

Nicias

c. 470–413 BCE · 5th century BCE · Also known as Nikias

Nicias was an Athenian politician and general prominent in the Peloponnesian War, a wealthy aristocrat with interests in the silver mines of Laurion, where Xenophon says he owned a thousand men. After the death of Pericles in 429 BCE he led the aristocrats as the principal rival of Cleon, opposing the aggressive imperialism of Cleon and Alcibiades, and served as strategos with a reputation for over-caution. He was largely responsible for the Peace of Nicias with Sparta in 421. Appointed in 415 BCE to command the Sicilian Expedition, he delayed the withdrawal after a lunar eclipse, surrendered to Gylippus at the Assinaros river and was executed by the Syracusans in 413.

Nicias
Image: William Jennings Bryan, Francis Whiting Halsey · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Great speeches

Alcibiades for the Sicilian Expedition415 BCE

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Nicias. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/nicias
MLA
“Nicias.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/nicias. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Nicias.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/nicias.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Nicias’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/nicias (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻